Few tasks in construction are more notoriously dangerous than trenching and excavation. Public works officials and anxious city legal departments have long been aware of this fact, but most have chosen to avoid the risks whenever possible. Now, however, cities and towns can no longer defer such projects, as they are confronted daily by aging underground infrastructure in dire need of repair. So, perhaps, the issue of trench safety has never been more relevant for municipalities than it is today, as the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration revisits the watershed 1989 revisions of its own national trench and excavation standards.
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